Having regard to the decision under item 10.2b below, the Deputies
adopted the following reply to Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1399 (1999) on
"Xenotransplantation":

"The Committee of Ministers appreciates the importance of the
issues addressed by the Parliamentary Assembly in Recommendation
1399 (1999) on "Xenotransplantation". In particular, it shares the
Assembly's concern over the ethical and the medical safety aspects of possible xenografts.

In view of the complexity of the subject, and having adopted Recommendation No. R (97) 15 on xenotransplantation in
September 1997, the Committee of Ministers has now decided to set up a Working Party on
Xenotransplantation (CDBI/CDSP-XENO) under the dual authority of the Steering Committee on
Bioethics (CDBI) and the European Health Committee (CDSP). The Working
Party's terms of reference are appended to this reply.

Its tasks include the preparation, bearing in mind Parliamentary
Assembly Recommendation 1399 (1999), of draft guidelines on xenotransplantation taking
into account the activities carried out by other bodies, in particular international, and
the necessity of world-wide co-operation. The Parliamentary Assembly may be represented in
the Working Party."